


the morning always comes

by Taeyn, ThreeDaysofRain



Series: not quite shakespeare [5]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Affection, Canon Compliant, Demisexual Character, Established Relationship, F/M, Hugs, Kissing, Tenderness, coming out as bi/demisexual, the Shadow Lake weekend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-10
Updated: 2018-03-10
Packaged: 2019-03-29 15:52:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13930317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taeyn/pseuds/Taeyn, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThreeDaysofRain/pseuds/ThreeDaysofRain
Summary: It’s the sort of moment that might’ve once seemed haunting, one wrong move and the changelings spirit you away into the forest.Now, Betty only wonders what would happen, almost dares to ask if she can follow.





	the morning always comes

The pines are dusty quiet, the sky dances with flecks of bright. It looks so strange from the shelter of the cabin, Betty’s palms still warm where she’d been holding her coffee, her exhale fogging the air as she steps out. The others are still sleeping- well, knowing Ronnie and Archie, _sleeping_ may not exactly be the right word- but the wood looks so crisp and peaceful, caught in that second between night and everything else. It’s the sort of moment that might’ve once seemed haunting, one wrong move and the changelings spirit you away into the forest.

Now, Betty only wonders what would happen, almost dares to ask if she can follow.

“Hey, you,” Juggie whispers, his arms gently wrapping around her from behind. He leans down to rest his chin on her shoulder, and Betty tips the side of her face against his, feels the pull of his mouth as he smiles.

Betty whispers something back- some tangle of _good morning_ and _I love you_ , the words smudged against his cheek as he nestles closer, his lashes soft as he blinks. She turns to kiss him but Juggie squints and ducks away, his nose crumpling as he tries not to smile.

“I might taste like coffee?” he says, and Betty smiles too as she bats away his hand, points the scuffed toe of her boot toward her own mug on the windowsill. The corner of his lips curl upward as Betty squeezes-in a kiss, his eyebrows pinch with feeling as he stops being shy and kisses her back.

“I used to dream about this sort of place,” Betty murmurs, and she kisses the tips of his cheeks too, Juggie’s eyes still slightly puffy from sleep. “Instead of a fairytale castle. I’d imagine hawthorn wreaths and a fireplace… and there’d always be a wisp of smoke through the trees, so you’d know someone was home.”

“Yeah?” says Juggie, and they sit at the edge of the porch to gaze over the mist, Betty’s cardigan catching on the rough hewn wood. He sips an inhale, on the cusp of something further, then gives a crooked grin and nuzzles into her neck instead, enjoying her affection in spite of his earlier reservations.

“And no, the house wasn’t covered in enchanted candy or anything,” Betty teases, Juggie laughing as she figures what he was about to say in one. “I’m not that morbid, unlike _some_ people.”

“Hey, don’t knock my morbid candy homemaking plans,” Jug protests, then peeks up from Betty’s collar, tucks another kiss below her jaw.

“Want to know mine?” he ventures, and Betty nods, sincere, Jughead isn’t always the first to volunteer stories about his childhood. His hands absentmindedly ruck over Betty’s sleeves as she looks at him, the first rays of sunlight prickling her cheeks.

“It was actually the same as Archie’s,” Juggie offers, his mouth hooking to a smile as he remembers. “A moat and drawbridge, stone battle turrets, narrow windows for the archers, and… some kind of device to make it fly.”

“So basically,” Betty says wryly, her free hand dancing through his curls as he interrupts himself with a yawn. “...a fairytale castle.”

Juggie can’t help a snort, his eyes suddenly creasing as they swap lopsided smirks.

“Right,” he says dryly, his expression ever more amused as it dawns on him. “But. With lots of... creepy stuff too, of course. _Very_ dark and brooding.”

He winks, and Betty grins at him all over again. Before Jughead, Betty had thought love to be like a fairytale too, the sort of grand, sweeping finality that all else led up to, no matter the trials. Now, as he smiles back at her, all snug and sleepy and cuddling closer in hopes of another kiss, it strikes her that it’s the very opposite. It’s the hundreds of tiny things, all the times she’s fallen for him along the way.

“Can I ask you something?” Jughead says quietly, and though Betty knows from his tone that it’s not bad, there's still a pang of worry that he’s thinking about it, that her one silly kiss had hurt him more than he’d shown.

“Anything,” says Betty, and she holds his gaze so he knows it’s okay, he can ask as much as he needs to and she’ll be there every time.

She waits, but he doesn’t, not at first at least. In the distance, she can hear the crackle of the pines waking, that vague, humming snap that seems to echo below the canopy.

“I’m not sure how to start,” Jughead admits, then shakes his head, squeezes Betty’s fingertips.

“Whatever it is, I promise it’ll be okay,” Betty whispers. She means it to reassure him- and really, her words seem like such a small thing- but she sees the line of his shoulders ease to hear them, his chest gently flinching as he lets out a breath.

“Okay,” Jug says eventually, his features soften as he meets her eyes. “You know how you said… that Archie and I are the only two who haven’t kissed?”

“You _have_ kissed?” Betty blurts, and she must look more surprised than she realises, some of the gravity evaporates from Juggie’s manner as he tries to keep a straight face.

“ _No_ ,” Jughead returns, amused, and he looks somewhat relieved at Betty’s less-than-solemn expression, presses her hand between both his palms. “And it’s not on the cards either, believe me. But I guess I just wanted to tell you…”

Betty waits as he shifts his tongue over his teeth, not knowing whether he wants her to guess and help him, or if it’s something he’d rather voice to her himself.

“That the idea wouldn't be a big deal to me?” Juggie finishes, one of his eyelids half-closing as he hesitates, unsure whether the statement will make sense. “The idea… of being with someone I really care about. If, in another life, that person was Archie-”

He turns his head and grazes his chin against his shoulder, grateful when Betty weaves her fingers through his. Her grip is no firmer than usual, and Betty scuffs her nails between the dips of his knuckles, the same way she does when they’re kissing, or walking down to the cornerstore, or when he’s watching a sad film and needs comforting.

“Did you already know?” Juggie manages, his own fingers slightly clumsy as he realises Betty understands.

“I didn’t,” Betty says truthfully, she hadn’t made an assumption either way.

“This has nothing to do with how much I love you,” Jughead says quickly, when Betty leans her head against his chest. She’d been trying to find the right words for how much it matters and truly doesn’t matter all at once, but when Jughead droops heavily into her hug, that suddenly seems like the easiest thing in the world.

“It has everything to do with how much _I_ love you,” Betty whispers, his hands clutch fiercely in her hair as he embraces her back. “...and I love you so much, Juggie. So, so much.”

They stay like that for what feels like so long, until the snap of the forest fades to a warm, mossy nip, until they can hear Ronnie teaching Archie how to use the fancy espresso machine in the kitchen, the scent of toast and honey pancakes in the air.

“Should we make an appearance?” Jughead murmurs, from the way he’s holding her Betty’s sure he wouldn’t mind staying longer, or taking a walk through the trees, things are often so crazy in town that they don’t get to just be with each other like this.

Betty smiles. They still have the whole weekend to get lost in, the forest will wake tomorrow too.

 _Kiss me again,_ she wants to utter.

“In a bit,” is what she whispers, and Juggie gently cups a hand to her cheek, his exhale warm on her mouth as he knows, and he does, and Betty echoes his smile, her heart runs into the woods as she kisses him back.

 

-


End file.
